Automatic stamp-vending machine.



R. T. n B. B. RAY. A AUTOMATIO'STAMP VBNDING MACHIIIE. A "APPLICATION FILED mais, 1913.

1,128,721 f Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

rwwnfow 111.133.1151. l AUTOMATIC -STAMP VENDING MAQH'INB.,

APPLICATION FILED 920.22, 19113.

2 sunnita-SHEET 2.

JAKEBRAY? .Y

)if-541m um wrzen/aco Y miran; sra s paranoia operon.

I tUFUs '.r. RAY AND BAKER B. RAY., 0F ros'ronre.,` omo.

ATOMATIG STAMP- Specification of Letters Patent.

VNDING MACHINE.

Application led December 22, 1913. Serial No. 808,221.

acter which embodies mechanical means for` lfeeding a continuous `strip of stamps and severing the individual stamps in the proper manner preparatory to discharging the same from the machine.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a 'stamp vending machine which is comparatively simple and inexpensive in its construction, `which ispositive and reliable in its operation', which is not liable to get out of repair, and which can be readily modified to handle stamps of any denomination. I v

i' With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel combinai tions and arrangements of the parts as will vending machine constructed in'aaccordance scription and v35 .more fully appear as` the v description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the' invention, reference is to be had to the following deaccompa-nying drawings, L in which z- 4 Figure 1 is a perspective view of 'a stamp with the invention. Fig. 2is an enlarged i longitudinal sectional View through one side of the manhine, showing the mechanism for handling one cent stamps. Fig. 3 is a etransverse sectional view onthe line 3--3 of Fig.

2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged side 'elevation of Y. the cam mechanism for operating the feed rolls. .Fig.'5 is a planview of the same, and Fig. 6 is a detail view'of the detent mecha-A nism employed for vending two cent stamps.

e reference characters. v

the present embodi- Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following.description` and indicated in all the views of the drawingsby the same lSpecifically describing ment of the invention,the nnxmeral 1 4designates the outer casing lwithin. lwhich the machines, and has for stamp rvending mechanismy is mounted. This. caslng 1s shown as subdivided `by ythe partition 2 into separate compartments, the

Patent-ee een. 1e, i915.

one cent stamp vending mechanism A beingxf monnted Within one of `the compartments, while the two cent stamp vending mechamsm B 1s mounted within the opposite compartment. These two stamp vending mechanisms A and B are substantially alike, .soif-f" that with the explanation of struction of the coin actuated trip mecha- Eisrlo, a description of one will suffice for the detail con- Each of the stamp vendingmechanisms A and B- includes a main drive wheel 3 mounted upon a shaft 4. A spiral spring 5 is applied to the shaft and drive wheel 3 for the purpose .of turning the saine.

5 is designed to be wound by key or the like in theusualv manner, the customary pawland ratchet G being provided for. maintaining the 'sprin .under tension until Ethe tension is relieve This spring u means of a by rotation of the Wheel' 3- D00S7are shown as provided in the ends of'the'main Casin l to admit of access being had to the interior thereof for theV purpose of winding the springs 5.

The 'rive wheel 3 has a toothed periphy ery and meshes with an .operating upon shaft 9, the said gear 8 in turn meshing with a pinion 10 upon a shaft 11.- This shaft .11 is shown as `provided with a regear 8 tardin'g fan 12 which acts as a governor to prevent a too rapid turning ofthe wheels i when the mechanism is released. Rigid withV -1 the operating gear 8 are the disks 13 and 14,

the former being provided with a cam'projection 15, while the latter is formed Witha peripheral notch 16. A roller 17 at the 4 end of a coin actuated detent 18 is normally seated within the notch 16 so aste lcckthe operating gear8 against turning. A spring 19 servesl to hold thecoin actuated detent'li'i` f.

in operative position,.ithe said detent being arranged at the lower 'end of a coinlchute 20 which extends upwardly and forwardly at the top-thereof.` y. l f

The stamps t'o be vended continuous `strips and. purchased-in rolls. A roll 21 ofsta-mps is suitably supported at the rear of the casing the free end 22 of lthe strip of stamps being ,drawn over an idler 23 'and carriedI betweenl aI pair of feed rolls 2A:` and 25; That one' of the feed rolls are formed y in disk 13.

which comes into contact with the cam surface of the stamps is preferably formed with a wax surface so as to eliminate any possibility of the stamps adhering or sticking thereto. As thetamps emerge from 'the two feed' rolls 24 and 25 they lpass through ay guide chute 26 which prevents the extremity-.of the stamp strip from curling. A fixed knife edge 27 is arranged at the outer end of the guide chute 26, being properly positioned for coperation with a nife edge 28 at the lower end of a vertically reciprocating plunger 29. 'A suitable guide 30 may be provided fo'r this plunger 29, the upper end of which is pivotally connected to one end of a lever 31, which is -pivotally mounted at an intermediate point in its len h at 32. The opposite Vend of the lever 1s connected to a second lunger 33 having a roller 34 at its lower en which normally travels upon the before mentioned A spring 35 engages the rear end of the lever 31 so as to normally hold the roller 34 yieldably against the periphery of the disk 13 and :hold the knife edge 28 in anr elevated position. However, when the cam projection 15 of the disk 13 is brought into engagement with the roller 34 so as to force the plunger 33 upwardly, the opposite plunger 29 is moved downwardly so as to bring the knife edge 28 into engagement with the knife edge 27 and sever that portion of the extremity of the stamp strip 22 which is projected beyond the guide chute 26. y

As a means for su porting the stamp roll 21, a pair of arms 37 are shown as pendent from the top ofthe casing 1, the said arms having suitable pivot points 38 for engaging a wooden core 39 or the like upon which the stamps may be wound. These arms 37 may have a spring formation, and are shown as provided at their lower ends with forwardly projecting extensions 40 between the extremities of which the guide roller or idler 23 is journaled. Suitable doors 41 may be provided in the rear of the casing 1 for placing new stamp rolls 21 in position when the former stamp roll has been exhausted.

Loose upon the shaft 42 of the lower feed roll 25 is a pinion 43 which meshes with a rack 44 upon a reciprocating rack bar 45. This pinion 25 carries a pawl 46 which is normally held in a spring engagement with a ratchet wheel. 47 keyed upon or otherwise made rigid with the shaft 42. A spring 48 connects the forward end of the reciprocating rack 45 to the front of the casing 1, while the rear end of the reciprocating rack bar 45 is provided with a finger 49 adapted to be engaged by a cam 50 rigid with the main operating gear wheel 8. vUpon the backward or rearwardmovement of the reciprocating rack bar 45 the spring pawl 46 engages the ratchet wheel 47 so as to rotate vunroll the stamp strip through a; suitable opening the shaft 42 and feed wheel 25 and thereby the extremity thereofbeing caused to, project beyond the end of the guide chute 26 a suliicient amount so that one stamp will be severed therefromv upon the operation of the cutting mechanism. Upon the forward orreturn movement of the reciprocating rack bar 45, caused by the spring 48, the spring pawl 46 will slip over the teeth of the ratchet wheely 47, so that there will be no backward or reverse turning of the feed wheels.

As previously explained, the spring 5 of the main drive wheel 3 is always under tension, although rotation of the operating wheel 8 is prevented 'by engagement of the roller'17 of the coin actuated detent 18 with the notch 16. lWhen a one cent coin`51 is dropped in the coin chute 20, it falls to the lower end thereof and rests upon the detent 18, the space between the detent and the discharge end, of the chute being normally less than the diameter of the coin so that the coin is held in position between the inclined. rear edge of the coin chute and the 'head 52 at the rear end ofthe operating plunger 53. This plunger isnormally hel in a retracted position by the spring 54, the

free end of the plunger projecting beyond the front of the casing 1 so as to be readily manipulated by the operator. After the, coin has been dropped into the coin chute 20 and permitted to come lto rest upon the detent 18, as indicated in Fig. 2, the operator presses inwardly upon the plunger 53, thereby forcing the coin 51 rearwardly and wedging the same between the inclined rear edge of the 'coin chute and the detent 18, thereby forcing the detent 18 downwardly against the 'action of the spring 19. The roller 17 is thus moved out of the notch 16 so as to release the main operating gear wheel 8. The coin 51 may then drop upon the bottom of the casing 1, although the roller 17 will ride upon the periphery of the disk 14 until the operating gear wheel 8 has completed one revolution, when it will again drop into the notch 16 and stop the mechanism. This complete revolution of' themain operating gear 8 serves, however, to

the stamp strip 22 a suiiicient amount to cause one stamp to project beyond the end of the guide chute 26, and also to bring the cam projection gagement with the roller 34 so as to lift the plunger 33 and operate the cutting mechanism. The stamp which is thus severed from the strip may be dropped upon the curved guide 55 and then be discharged 56 in the front of the casing. It :will thus be obvious that the plunger 53 can be freelyoperated at anytime from the front of the main casing 1, although the stamp feeding and cutting 15 of the disk 13 into en.

mechansmis only setin-l operationwhen a coin has been previously dropped into the 'coin chute' y2 0 and pei-mitte' to, come to rest upon 'the detent 4liin'ront of the-head 52 ofthe plunger 53;` y

The tivo., centf stamp vending mechanism B (see Fi'g. `6) is identical in construction with the one cent stamp vending mechanism A, with the exception that thenotched detent engaging disk lll which corresponds to the disk 1410i the one cent stamp venden ing mechanism is provided with two peripheral notches 163L instead of' a single notch 16. These two peripheral notches 15a are arranged at diametrically opposite points .so that when the operating gear Wheel 8 is initially released by dropping the first penny in the coin chute 20 and pressing inwardly upon the plunger 53, it only turns a half revolutionl instead of a complete revolution, the roller 17 of the detent 18 dropping into the opposite notch 16B.. In order to complete the revolution of the gear wheel 8 which is necessary, to obtain the stamp, a second penny must be dropped into the coin chute 2O and the plunger 53 operated e ing l, and the two cent stamp mechanism mounted in the opposite end of the casing, although it Will be obvious that there are many other possible arrangements and that We claim as new and desire to secure by Let-` by slight modifications the mechanismcan be. readily adapted for the vendingof stampsof all denominations. y

Having thus described the invention, what ters Patent,I iszy 1. A stamp vending machine including feed rolls, meansfor supplying a. continuous stamp strip to the feed rolls, driving means having an operative connection with Vthe feed rolls, means controlling the driving means, a guide chute receivin of the stamp strip from the feed rolls, a fixed knife edge at theend of the guide chute, a lever pivoted Abetween its ends, a 'plunger connected to one end of the lever and provided with a reciprocating knife mounted for coperation with the fixed knife edge, a second plunger connected to the opposite end of the lever, and cam means driven by the driving means for actuating the second plunger.

A stamp vending, machine including feed rolls, means for supplying a con iriuous stamp strip to the feed rolls, e loosely mounted pinion having a pawl and ratchet the end connection with. one of the feed rolls, a ren ciprocating rack bar engaging the pinion, driving means, cam means actuated-by the reciprocating, rack bar, and cutting meansl for vsevering the extremity of the stamp strip.

A stamp vending machine including feed rolls,-means for supplying a continu.- y

ous stamp strip tothe fee rolls, anoperating Wheel, a spring actuated drive Wheel normally tending to rotate the operating Wheel, a pair of cams rigid. with the operat-x ing lWheel, means actuated by one of the earns for operating the feed rolls, cutting means actuated lby the opposite. cam for severing lthe end of the stamp strip, a notched disk rigid with the operating-wheel, and dcl ratchet connection with one of the xeed rolls, 1,

a reciprocating rack bar engaging the pin/5 ion and actuated by 'one of the cams, ,a re-v ciprocating plunger actuated by the'4 other cam, cutting means including ,a movable knife, a plunger carrying thejxnovable knife,

'an operative connection/between the said plunger and the cam actuated plunger, and means for controlling. the 'o erating Wheel. c 5. A stamp vending mac ine including feed rolls, means for supplying a ccntinu- V ous stamp strip to the feed rolls, a guide chute receiving the end of the stamp strip from the feed rolls, a iiXed knife edge at the end of the guide chute, a reciprocating plunger provided with a movable knife edge mounted for. coperation with the xed knife'edge, an operating gear, a spring actuated drive gear meshing with the operating gear, a pair of cams rigid with the opei'ating gear, a pinion having a pavvlL and ratchet connection with one of thev feed rolls, a reciprocating rack bar envaging the pinion and actuated by one of t e cams, a` plunger actuated bythe opposite cam, an operative connection between the said plunger and the knife edge carrying plunger, a notched disk rigid With the operating gear, and detent means coperating with the notched disk to control the operation of the machine.

6.- A stamp vending machine including feed rolls, means for supplying a continuous stamp strip to the feed rolle, a guide chute receivin theend of 'the stamp strip frornthe fee -rolls,-e xed knife edge at the end of the 'ide chute, areci rocatin plunger provied with a move le' 1mi e mounted for coperation with the xed Tying plunger, and means im" 'leont'rolliixg 10l knife edge, an operating gear, a pair of the opexating gear. i cams rlgld Wlth the operetmg gear, e pmin ,te'stlmony whereof We ax om.` slgnalon having a paWl and ratchet connectlon tures 1n presence of two Wltnesses.

' with one of the feed rolls, a recprocatin RUFUS RAY.

rack bar engaging the pinion and aetuate 'BAKERBQBAY 'by one of the cams, e. plunger actuated by Witnesses: l the opposite cam, an opera-tive' connection D. W. FOLEY between the said plunger and the lmie car C. P. Km. 

